Trump Stance on ACA (Obama-care)
The Faces of an all-GOP Government Not for Health Care
(The Repeal and Replace It Crowd)
GOP Plans Immediate Repeal of Obama-care Then a Delay
That headlines is confusing: Immediate Repeal (I note: Mostly for political points no doubt), then but then delay in implementing GOP replacement plan, which obviously does not even exist).
So, let’s get real shall we –
even if that’s humanly possible with Trump and the new incoming majority GOP
about to take the reins of the entire country.
Main points and hypocritical highlight from that NY
Times article is thus:
WASHINGTON — Republicans
in Congress plan to move almost immediately next month to repeal the Affordable
Care Act, as President-elect Donald
J. Trump promised. But they also
are likely to delay the effective date so that they have several years to phase
out President Obama’s signature
achievement.
This emerging “repeal and
delay” strategy, which Speaker Paul D. Ryan discussed this week with Vice
President-elect Mike Pence, underscores a growing recognition that replacing
the health care law will
be technically complicated and could be politically explosive.
Since the law was signed
by Mr. Obama in March 2010, 20 million uninsured people have gained coverage,
and the law has become deeply embedded in the nation’s health care system,
accepted with varying degrees of enthusiasm by consumers, doctors, hospitals,
insurance companies, as well as State and local governments.
Unwinding
it could be as difficult for Republicans as it was for Democrats to pass it in
the first place and could lead Republicans into a dangerous cul-de-sac, where
the existing law is in shambles but no replacement can pass the narrowly
divided Senate. Democrats would face political pressure in that case as well.
Updates follow on that topic
of repeal and replace – a great political sound bite but who gets bitten? First
from the LA Times, in part here:
That
promise to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act has been a
staple of the Republican Party platform virtually since the law’s
enactment in 2010.
Now
it looks like it might happen. President-elect Trump picked up the theme
in his campaign, promising that among other things: “On Day-One of the Trump
administration, I will ask Congress to immediately deliver a full repeal of Obamacare.”
Trump then in SOP verbose style said “I will supplant it with something
terrific, terrific, some really terrific.” (I note: Can’t you just see and hear him standing
there saying that holding up his right hand with thumb and index finger made
into a loop like he always does? – Some vision, isn’t it).
However
that long-spoken promise is about to come face-to-face with reality. Why? Repealing
many Obamacare provisions isn’t possible without the assent of
congressional Democrats.
Perhaps
more important, dismantling key elements of the law risks leaving the U.S.
health care system in chaos — certainly in worse shape than it was even before
the Affordable Care Act was passed. Most-importantly and at stake is seeing
coverage for approximately 20 million Americans vanish, and the cost of coverage
for many more skyrocket, that leads into this report from here showing
numbers from the CBO on Obama-care. Extract is this key analysis from the CBO,
in part:
According
to the CBO, most of the savings is because the Act makes sure 95% of citizens
have health care insurance. That lowers health care costs by making
preventive health care affordable for most of the 33 million Americans who have
no health insurance. They don't have to wait until their illness becomes so
critical that they wind up using the hospital emergency room as their primary
care provider. That lowers national health care costs for everyone.
The
CBO report also says the ADA reduces the budget deficit by $143 billion
in between 2010-2019. Many people were understandably skeptical that a $940
billion program that expands health care coverage also saves money.
That's
because the ACA legislation has taxes and fees that more than offset the cost.
Here
is a summary of the savings. (To see
how these taxes affect you, go to Obamacare Taxes.)
The other source for this post is from here and it is a bit scarier as stated like this from the
article:
Hospital health care providers
could face billions in hospital revenue cycle losses if the ACA is repealed
without replacement legislation that preserves health coverage increases and
rolls back claims reimbursement cuts (As stated by the American
Hospital Association (AHA) and
Federation of American Hospitals (FAH).
Read each of those links for
the finer details. The bottom line as they say is that Trump and this new GOP
is about to abandon over 20 million Americans who have decent health care (many
for the first time in their lives), cause us to go “back the future” with a
crappy system that existed before the ACA became law, see prices go up,
revenues down (the hospital analysis),
and what for?
A political sound bite, a
favor to big business (I note: Trump wants to give a huge corporate tax
reduction to lower their tax burden) while kicking people off of health
care bus and instead to under the passing GOP bus.
All I can say is: A public
outcry will be loud and frequent and turmoil is about to hit Trump and this GOP
squarely in the face and the only ones they can blame are themselves – but guess
what? They will not ‘cause they never can – only blame Obama and DEMS is in
their DNA.
Does all this gloom and doom
sounds harsh? Yes, it does and for good reason: it is gloom and doom, ala GOP
standards, which I have to admit, are pretty low.
Trump and this GOP plan about
to be levied on America and especially the parts they do not like is simply
payback or rewards to their benefactors and we all know that is, right Mr. and
Mrs. Koch?
So, where will a President Trump stand with the public on this? Hint:
Stay tuned.
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